- Paul Krugman about how Trump has ceded the future to China;
- Tom Nichols on how the Trump administration resembles a bunch of toddlers, and what Americans who care about democracy should do.
- Salon’s Sophia A. McClennen on how the Trump administration is leading to Americans’ cognitive collapse;
- Short items about Christian hypocrisy, Trump’s 60 Minutes lies, Musk’s mispronunciations, cave man morality, and Trump’s investing in the past.
Paul Krugman, 3 Nov 2025: We’re Number Two!, subtitled “How Trump ceded the future to China”
Does Donald Trump realize that he has ceded world leadership to China? Probably not: During his recent Asian trip, foreign leaders flattered him and showered him with personal gifts, so he came home with his ego even more inflated than usual. Nobody close to him would dare tell him that if you look at the substance of what he agreed to, it amounted to an ignominious retreat. When Chuck Schumer pointed out the reality of what Trump didn’t accomplish, his reaction was hysterical:
Well, if this be treason, make the most of it. The whole world knows what Trump’s sycophants won’t tell him: His confrontation with China has ended up demonstrating Chinese strength and American weakness.
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The Atlantic, Tom Nichols, 3 Nov 2025: A Confederacy of Toddlers, subtitled “The Trump administration is a regime of troubled children.”
Hannah Arendt was the historian famous for her comment about “the banality of evil.” (That is, people whom we view as evil aren’t necessarily fiendish plotters who intended to be evil; they’re not the cartoon characters in superhero comics or movies. They were ordinary, amoral people who committed what was later considered to be evil.)
In 1949, the German historian and political philosopher Hannah Arendt visited Europe for the first time since fleeing to America during the war. A year later, she wrote an analysis of what she called “the aftermath of Nazi rule.” She found the Old World lacking in civic maturity and commitment compared with her new home, the then-booming United States, noting that “the peoples of Western Europe have developed the habit of blaming their misfortunes on some force out of their reach.” She believed that her adopted country, by comparison, enjoyed a kind of clarity of public vision: “With the possible exception of the Scandinavians,” she wrote, “no European citizenry has the political maturity of Americans, for whom a certain amount of responsibility, i.e., of moderation in the pursuit of self-interest, is almost a matter of course.” Arendt wasn’t celebrating a perfect America; rather, she was lauding a people who approached political life with an adult sensibility and a reserve of self-control.
How much has changed!
The United States is now a nation run by public servants who behave no better than internet trolls, deflecting criticism with crassness and obscenity. The White House press secretary answers a question from a member of the free press—a serious question about who planned a meeting between the American and Russian presidents—by saying, “Your mom did.” The secretary of defense cancels DEI and other policies by saying, “We are done with that shit.” The vice president calls an interlocutor on social media a “dipshit.” The president of the United States, during mass protests against his policies, responds by posting an AI-generated video of himself flying a jet fighter over his fellow citizens and dumping feces on their heads.
These are not the actions of mature adults. They are examples of crude people displaying their incompetence as they flail about in jobs—including the presidency—for which they are not qualified.
…
The collapse of a superpower into a regime of bullies and mean girls and comic-book guys explains much about why American democracy is on the ropes, reeling from the attacks of people who in a better time would never have been allowed near the government of the United States.
And so on. What to do?
Americans who care about democracy must organize and vote in every election, no matter how small or local. And in their personal lives, people who want to restore maturity to national government must be clear with those around them, even if it means risking their personal relationships, that some things, such as glib schoolyard taunts and scatological nonsense from the commander in chief, are not acceptable.
Americans have learned that guardrails are easily destroyed. Restoring them will take time—because they have to be repaired by each of us, one person at a time, making small but important decisions about how we want to live.
(Here’s a link to my coverage of Tom Nichols on this blog, including reviews of two of his books.)
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Salon, Sophia A. McClennen, 3 Nov 2025: How Donald Trump broke the American mind, subtitled “Trumpism’s real threat isn’t political chaos. It’s cognitive collapse”
President Donald Trump’s decision to demolish the East Wing of the White House to make way for a ballroom is classic Trumpian theater — grandiose destruction packaged as vision. But the stories of the institutions, buildings and legacies that Trump and his team have destroyed aren’t the most disturbing threats our nation faces. What’s truly at risk of collapsing is the country’s cognitive infrastructure.
The real wreckage of Trumpism isn’t political chaos or partisan decay — it’s the slow demolition of the American mind.
The success of any autocrat lies in their ability to mesmerize their supporters and mentally paralyze the resistance. Opposition depends not only on organized protests, but on the collective capacity to think through the crisis. Despots, knowing this, endeavor to do everything in their power to shut down our ability to think outside of their established narratives.
It goes on. You listen to lies long enough, and you cannot distinguish between truth and reality. Religion has the same effect, instilled at early ages. Concluding:
If you’ve found yourself burnt out, exhausted, confused, dejected and dismayed as you process the daily onslaught of the Trumpian team, you now know why. And while it might be tempting to allow awareness of these authoritarian tactics to sow depression, that would be playing right into Trump’s hands.
Understanding the power of authoritarian confusion must breed clarity, not despair. The more we grasp how Trumpism corrodes thought, the better equipped we are to defend it — because the fight for democracy always begins in the mind.
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The Fringe:
- Friendly Atheist, 3 Nov 2025: Indiana’s Christian Nationalist Lt. Gov. says Zohran Mamdani wants to “force his values” on NYC, subtitled “Micah Beckwith railed against Muslim politicians while pushing his own unconstitutional brand of religious rule” — — Hypocrisy. And this is why I think most religious folks are a bit dim.
- JMG, 3 Nov 2025: CNN: Trump Lied 18 Times In “60 Minutes” Interview — — Of course he did. Source link: CNN.
- JMG, 3 Nov 2025: Oligarch To Followers: “Vote Cuomo Not Mumdumi” — — Elon Musk, classy as always, deliberately mispronouncing peoples’ names.
- JMG, 3 Nov 2025: Junior: Obama And Newsom Are “Leg Crossing Pussies” — — Cave man morality.
- JMG, 3 Nov 2025: Trump Admin Gives Coal Plants $100 Million Bailout — — Investing in the past, ignoring the future, as conservatives are wont to do.
